Incorporation of silver/carbon nanoparticles into poly(methyl methacrylate) via in situ miniemulsion polymerization and its influence on the glass-transition temperature

Silver/carbon nanoparticles (9 nm) were incorporated, as reinforcements, into a matrix of poly(methyl methacrylate) via in situ miniemulsion polymerization. It was found by differential scanning calorimetry that the glass-transition temperature of the poly(methyl methacrylate) showed an improvement of 14 degrees C with only 0.5 wt % nanoparticles in comparison with a pure poly(methyl methacrylate) control, which was also obtained by miniemulsion polymerization under the same conditions. This increase was related to a polymer chain mobility restriction due to a combination of bound plastic and joint plastic shell effects at the interphase and the surrounding regions. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 511-518, 2007.